Baby hawksbill turtles emerged from the sand this past Thursday to make their way home. Having seen plenty of documentaries on see life, I had always thought that sea turtles instinctively crept out of their sandy nests and spared no time in charging into the ocean. These turtles were different, they came spinning out of the sand and crawling each and every direction. On that day we had a large group of campers spending the night, and since the turtles were only about 3-4” long, they almost stepped on them. It seamed that they were crawling back to the light instead of to the ocean, which apparently was the last place they wanted to go. We tried to guide them to the ocean but they kept coming back, finally we led them to the mangroves and eventually went to sleep, turning off all the lights and letting them find their way out to sea. It was an amazing thing to be a part of and I can only hope that a few of those fragile but determined little hawksbills are able to survive.

One of the biggest problems facing the conservation of sea turtles is light pollution. When turtles hatch on the beach, they go toward hotels instead of toward the moon/ocean. I’m glad you were able to guide them away from the lights! It sounds like you’ve been having an amazing summer!